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'''Quality training for farmers'''
[[File:Selection Masoala 003.jpg|400px|left]]The proceeds from the [[Sélection Masoala|"Sélection Masoala"]] - a total of 30,000 Swiss Francs - were used to build an archetype cacao plantation and a fermentation centre on the Peninsula of [[Masoala ]] in Madagascar. The curator of the Zurich Zoo, Martin Bauert, developed the business plan of the project and now coordinates the enterprise. The team Bauert - Stahl found support in the Swiss Embassy in Madagascar, and in the [http://www.freundemasoalas.ch/xml_1/internet/en/application/d32/f33.cfm "Friends of Masoala" ] Association, the Zurich Zoo and the [http://www.wcs.org/ Wildlife Conservation Society].
"We have been planting cacao trees in Madagascar at full speed for a year now," Stahl is pleased to report. The trees are not only planted, bred, and maintained though; moreover, their crop is to be used for the production of chocolate. Here is where François Stahl comes into play. As head of development of the Wallisellen-based chocolate production company [http://chocolatshalba.ch "Chocolats Halba"], he knows what it takes to produce good, high-quality chocolate, and he wishes to pass on his knowledge to Madagascan farmers. Part of his training for the farmers focuses on the procedure of "fermentation"; in this multi-day process, the core of the fruit - the cacao beans - and the fruit pulp are poured into boxes that are lined with banana leaves. Yeast naturally occurring on the banana leaves breaks down the sugar in the fruit pulp; thus, the cacao beans heat up to 45 degrees and get fermented. And this is how the pre-stage of the cacao flavour is developed. "Fermentation builds the basic taste," explains chocolate expert François Stahl. "It is the name of the game of chocolate production."
[[File:Selection Masoala 004.jpg|400px|left]]
How long should the process of fermentation take? What are the ideal preconditions? And how should the approach be adapted to the conditions in Madagascar? Stahl sends his instructions by email to Madagascar. The Madagascan environment, however, is new territory for him. "With the weather conditions that I am not familiar with, this is a big challenge," says Stahl. He sends guidelines to the farmers; they go through a checklist, and record temperatures and weather conditions which they report back to him. This in turn helps him to analyse and improve the process. "The quality of the first crop was very poor," laughs the chocolate expert. No chocolate could be produced from it. Nevertheless, explains Stahl, thanks to an improved process already in the next harvest the Madagascan farmers achieved a "quantum leap forward compared to the first sample".
'''Securing the retirement pension of farmers'''
[[File:Selection Masoala 005.jpg|400px|thumb|Kakaoplantagen aufforsten, den Regenwald schützen und madagassischen Bauern ein Einkommen sichern: Das Projekt in Madagaskar, unterstützt u.a. vom Zoo Zürich, nimmt Gestalt an.]]
The aim is to attract up to two hundred farmers for the project within the next five years. Every farmer is expected to plant around a thousand trees, which corresponds to one hectare of land. So far, around thirty Madagascan farmers participate in the reforestation. "We supply them with the material," says Stahl and adds that the main work still lies with the locals. "They provide their fields and invest their work for five years." By building a cooperative, farmers are encouraged to jointly carry out the fermentation, and become independent. The procedure of fermentation only pays off with large amounts of cacao beans. As an interim solution for the first five years, the farmers are ensured that their crop gets purchased. Within this time, the aim is to achieve a fair trade label, acquire an organic certification, and to improve the production of cacao to that extent that delicious chocolate can be produced. This could then be sold on the market.
'''Second "Sélection Masoala"'''
[[File:Selection Masoala 001.jpg|300px|left]]
At the same time the 100 percent Swiss chocolate is back in the spotlight. This year again, François Stahl produced the sweet confectionery, thanks to the crop of the four to five meter high cacao trees in the Masoala Rainforest of the Zurich Zoo. Just as four years ago, all the ingredients come from Switzerland. "This time it's a dark chocolate," says Stahl. The second "Sélection Masoala", a chocolate in the form of a small cacao fruit, can be purchased at the Zurich Zoo for 50 francs. 320 pieces - a total of 1.4 kilograms - were launched at the Madagascar days of the Zoo, on the 4th and 5th of October. The proceeds will flow again into the project in Madagascar. The story of chocolate continues to be written.
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== More information ==